WA health insurance rates will increase an average of 10.7% in 2025; WA’s DCYF in early talks to expand capacity to hold young adults in detention

AGRICULTURE

• Cherry harvest yielded ‘outstanding crop’ across the Northwest (Yakima Herald-Republic)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Newsom being pressed to veto AI bill (Pluribus News)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Wholesale inflation mostly cooled last month in latest sign that price pressures are slowing (AP)
• Vote by Boeing machinists likely to trigger an immediate strike (The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: Regional collaboration is key to our economic future (Jared Nieuwenhuis, Bellevue City Councilmember/Puget Sound Business Journal)

CENSUS

• COLUMN: Seattle median household income hits $121,000, census data shows (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

CHILD CARE

• Bright Beginnings day care closes, under investigation (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• ‘Remember and honor’: 500 attend 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial ceremony (The Wenatchee World)

CONGRESS

• Murray, Jayapal, Cantwell call for inquiry into UW grad’s death in West Bank (The Seattle Times)
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers sits down with KREM 2, talking about her time in office ahead of eventual departure (KREM TV)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• WA’s DCYF in early talks to expand capacity to hold young adults in detention (FOX 13)
• Some in juvenile detention could go to adult prison in Aberdeen next year (The Seattle Times)
• State in “early stages” of planning new youth detention facility in Aberdeen (The Chronicle)
• Nature-focused programs at Airway Heights Corrections Center improve prisoner health while providing food for the community (The Inlander)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• EDITORIAL: Plaintiffs line up against ‘transparency’ law (Capital Press)

COURTS (STATE)

• WA bank sued over loans to investors in alleged Ponzi scheme (The Seattle Times)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• As crime pushes businesses out of downtown, SPD looks for solutions to increase safety (KHQ TV)

DRUG CRISIS

• Spokane Mayor proposes new role to thwart increased narcotics trafficking (The Center Square)
• Health department says nursing assistant possessed fentanyl while on the job (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)

EDUCATION

• College credit program for WA high schoolers sees enrollment jump now that it’s free (Washington State Standard)
• Seattle names 21 public schools to possibly close (KUOW Radio)
• Which school in Spokane should get a new health clinic? The school board isn’t sure (The Spokesman-Review)
• CDC director visits Tacoma with back-to-school reminder: Time to vaccinate your kids (The News Tribune)
• Highline Public Schools to reopen Thursday after cyberattack (Cascade PBS)

ELECTIONS

• Election officials warn that widespread problems with the U.S. mail system could disrupt voting (AP)
• Court could clear the way for Americans to legally bet on U.S. elections (AP)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Micro-hydroelectric power may be the next big climate solution (KNKX Radio)

ENVIRONMENT

• I-5 Bridge replacement environmental impact statement to be published Sept. 20 (The Columbian)
• An estimated 25,000-50,000 gallons of raw sewage released into Lake Whatcom, closing beach access at Bloedel Donovan park (KING TV)

FISH

• The Count: Agencies track wild, hatchery fish in Columbia, Snake rivers (Capital Press)

GUN RIGHTS

• EDITORIAL: Keep repeating calls for sensible federal gun laws (The Seattle Times)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• New FDA rule requires notice to women with ‘dense breast tissue’ after mammogram (The Center Square)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• YVC instructors walk out in support of state union members (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Three WSU fraternities under investigation (The Lewiston Tribune)

HOMELESSNESS

• Proposed KCRHA agreement set for final vote in Seattle after brief discussion (The Center Square)
• Spokane approves $3.9M for homeless services ahead of new scattered site model (The Center Square)
• Youth homelessness crisis in Pierce County: Shelter space running out (FOX 13)
• COLUMN: Homelessness is not an identity (Sue Lani Madsen/The Spokesman-Review)

HOUSING

• Mortgage rate drops, more inventory may give homebuyers ‘window of opportunity’ this fall (FOX 13)
• King County considers taking $1B in debt to build middle-income housing (The Seattle Times)

INSURANCE

• WA health insurance rates will increase an average of 10.7% in 2025 (The Seattle Times)
• Washington approved insurance rate increase (The Spokesman-Review)
• WA health insurance rates to jump over 10% for 2025 (The Everett Herald)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Legal concerns raised with data collection for AGO police use of force database (The Center Square)
• Richland names new chief of police. He will be the 3rd in five years (Tri-City Herald)
• OPINION: Seattle cop reprimanded for pursuing violent suspect who rammed stolen car into cruiser (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

LEGISLATURE

• Washington lawmakers to introduce ban on flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes (KING TV)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Seattle council committee advances controversial drug, prostitution bills (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Mabton still without 2024 budget, despite mayor assuring judge of two-week timeline (KAPP/KVEW)

MEDIA

• COLUMN: Analyst: Google antitrust case, more competition could help local media (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Could suicide-prevention nets on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge save lives? (KIRO TV)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon has tried again and again to abolish daylight saving time shift. Here’s why we’re falling back anyway (The Oregonian)
• Portland Public Schools quietly adopts policy barring teachers from ‘political or personal’ classroom displays (The Oregonian)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Police arrest Spanaway, WA high school teacher for child porn, voyeurism (FOX 13)
• Aberdeen High School increases security after social media threat (KIRO TV)
• Lockdown lifted at Lynnwood High after student arrested (The Everett Herald)
• Photo showing kids sitting in the aisle on Lake Stevens bus draws concerns (KIRO TV)
• Fort Vancouver High School briefly locked down for reports of threat; no weapon found (The Columbian)
• Evergreen district staff were not made aware of Monday shooting threat until after school ended (The Columbian)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Majority of state attorneys general seek warnings for youth on social media (Oregon Capital Chronicle/The Oregonian)

SPORTS

• NBA commissioner on expansion talks: ‘We’re not quite ready’ (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Pac-12 expansion: Four Mountain West schools officially added for 2026 (The Seattle Times)
• Huskies and Cougars gear up for an earlier Apple Cup (Axios – Seattle)
• Eastmont School District proposes open division for transgender athletes in WIAA sports (The Wenatchee World)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Washington state faces license plate shortage, delays could last up to 3 months (KOMO TV)

TRANSPORTATION

• Mt. Baker Highway named among ‘sketchiest’ mountain roads in the U.S. in new ranking (The Bellingham Herald)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Tribal leaders, law enforcement gather for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women summit (KING TV)
• Federal funding buoys Yakama Nation’s fish recovery efforts (Yakima Herald-Republic)

WATER

• Camas residents concerned about safety of city’s water supply; some eye area’s microchip makers (The Columbian)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Huckleberry Ridge Fire 8% contained as of Tuesday afternoon (The Chronicle)

WILDLIFE

• ‘Keep them wild’: Rehabilitated pups reintroduced to Whidbey beach (The Everett Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Kill this birdbrained scheme (Capital Press)